Abandoned truck stop, Wyoming-Nebraska state line at Pine Bluffs.
(Click images to view larger)
I've been trying to figure out what is appealing to me about shooting photographs of abandoned places. Trying to make artful photographs is daunting these days because there are so many people producing high quality work of every subject under the sun, that it's impossible not to feel that you're just contributing to cliches, or reproducing what others have already done. Abandoned farms, old industrial sites, rusting cars and trucks, farm equipment, windmills: they've been worked over by photographers and painters. But when I'm out exploring I photograph them anyway.
What's the meaning of these images? What am I trying to say with them? I'm not sure yet, but here are a few ideas. I'm not entirely satisfied with these explanations though. What do you think?
First, I enjoy exploring abandoned sites much as I enjoy exploring canyons, other countries, Wyoming basins, sagebrush, shorelines, or any place where I don't know what I'll find. There's the anticipation of discovering something unexpected and beautiful or even interesting but ugly.
Secondly, there are often arrangements of objects that are accidentally beautiful or emotional in places that people have left behind. On a recent trip I explored an old trailer near an abandoned truck stop, and found a package of family photographs in the dust and debris. Were they left on purpose? By mistake? An electric bill was addressed to a name that matched annotation on the backs of some of the photos, but when I found the person on facebook and sent them a message offering to mail them the old photos (I left them in the trailer but could retrieve them), I never heard back. Was their time in that trailer something that they wanted to leave behind? Or maybe they just don't look at the internet?
I wonder if the children whose abandoned rooms contain old books and toys drive past these places as adults, and if they stop to have a look.
Truck trailers, abandoned truck stop.
A diner, abandoned truck stop, Pine Bluffs, Wyoming.
An adding machine.
Paper towel holder, abandoned diner.
The following are found photographs from an old trailer. I encourage you to click on these and look at them at full size.
The blog reached 10,000 page views today! Thanks for reading and looking. -- Ken
ReplyDeleteThanks Ken for the great photos of the abandoned places you have explored. I too have entered such places and found lives frozen in time from the clothes left behind to the family photos strewn about on the floors and rooms of abandoned homes. It is a constant reminder of our fleeting existence. Keep exploring!
ReplyDeleteHi Brent--thanks for looking. And have fun exploring.
ReplyDeleteLove the pictures. I live in wyoming (cody wyoming) we have a lot of abandoned places up here.
ReplyDeleteThanks Linda. I'll have to explore around Cody sometime!
ReplyDeleteHi Ken. Great pics and old memories. I used to work there. It was called the State Line Cafe as half the property is in Wyoming the other half Nebraska. I recognize some of the people in the pictures. I've often wondered about them and that place.
ReplyDeleteVanessa--thanks for the note. That's great that that you know some of those people. As I said in the blog, I tried to find them but didn't have any luck. I would imagine that they might like to have those pictures, which are fantastic.
DeleteI know this sounds strange, but what years did you work there? My great grandma used to own the state line cafe in pine bluffs, I am wondering if this is the one or if it was sold and ran after she passed. She passed away in 1977.
DeleteDo you happen to have the coordinates for this place? I've been searching for them everywhere, and I'm researching abandoned truck stops for novel writing purposes.
ReplyDeleteThanks.
I didn't record the coordinates, but it is right on the Wyoming-Nebraska border just outside of Pine Bluffs, Wyoming. It's on a secondary road, not I-80.
DeleteIt's on us30,I got fuel there many times you could get fuel in wy or ne back then that was how you paid your road use tax,I sure do miss those times they were shining times
DeleteThanks for the info and for your memory of that place. It sounds like it meant a lot to you.
DeleteThank you so much for creating this and posting the pictures. Some of my sisters and I stopped by to walk down memory lane just now. Our fathers name was Eldon Rhodes. He owned this business, then just named Stateline, before it became Smiittys
ReplyDeleteWho is your grandma? I know the current owner and they've owned it since sometime in the 70s.
ReplyDeleteSadly this place has deteriorated much from these photos as I just went there two days ago.
ReplyDelete